Hello all.

Our friends at Aussie Post have seen fit to give my recently purchased computer storage drive their “Drop Test.”
Fortunately it survived although the box it came in was crumpled and split open at one end.

I seek the help of forum members. I can not arrange to pick up all my purchases. Which courier service has the best track record?
Apart from pleading to the shipper to make the packing “Aussie Post” proof what do you do?

Oh. by the way, the computer storage drive is a helical scan drive using the same tape form as the Digital Audio Tape. It is called Digital Data Storage (DDS)
Some drives can also play/decode DAT audio content.

I just received a large letter and the thing was ripped open along one side. Luckily nothing fell out.

AP's track record is so poor at letter delivery that I changed everything I could to email. Even then, they still managed to lose my tax assessment. I'll have to request the ATO to send another, since they refuse to use email.

Which courier service has the best track record?

I can't answer that empirically, but it's important to realise that most courier drivers for the "brand" companies operate a territory, so if you get to know your local drivers then you may get a better service. By way of example, the DHL driver who services the suburb where my workshop is located is known by a number of the factory occupants and they tend to use DHL as a consequence.

However, by the same token, the DHL driver in another territory may be unreliable.

My own preferences are DHL and FedEx in that order, simply because their depots are closer to me than UPS which requires a trip to Botany.

However, if I need to initiate a pickup, then for simplicity of process I have used Pack and Send a number of times with good results. In that case my shipment may be handled more than once (i.e. by different independent courier drivers) along the route so it's pot luck as to how carefully the packages are handled.

My worst experiences are with Australia Post's StarTrack, and that is because their drivers have twice simply carded the delivery instead of bothering to come to the door. I saw one of them doing it and he was so fast that I couldn't get to him before he'd shot through. That indicated to me that he'd written the card before setting out on his run. I registered a complaint in that case, and only wish I had CCTV vision of it.

I had a bad run a while back with 4 different purchase off ebay all broken by the time I received them.
Those 4 were all with Australia post, But in all honesty I think it boils down to how they are packed.
If done right than all will be good.
Last year I shipped over 300 items with Australia post and all items were received unbroken.
So I really think it boils down to taking the time and effort to ensure the person gets it in good condition, but unfortunately I think many sellers just dont go the extra mile when packing goodies.

Pete

Yes, Pete's point about original packing is well taken.

However, then we get this abomination from eBay called "Global Shipping" which makes things dead easy for sellers, but can cause a lot of grief for buyers, besides being rip-off expensive into the bargain.

Global Shipping is a euphemism for Pitney Bowes, which reserves the right to repack incoming packages. Their commercial aim is to reduce volumetric weight wherever possible, so if a seller happens to use a larger box than PB thinks is warranted for the actual weight, they will rip it open, throw away the original carton and repack it themselves ... and you can imagine the sorts of bozos who do the repacking.

Avoid Global Shipping!

Yes G , ebay forums are full of complaints regarding this new Globe shipping service..
Many years ago when ebay first started in oz there were only a few handfuls of Australian sellers and I was one of them, since that time ebay has gone down hill for both buyers and sellers.
Years ago it was great, I was selling tons of BMC stuff and vintage Smith Gauges ,mainly to the Japanese. I found them to be excellent to deal with every time.
Very trusting people and they would just put the cash in the mail quite often.
Pete

Is it just me thinking things have turned to sh-t, or am I really so past it that I expect too much?

We have an abundance of coal and gas but not allowed to use it (sell it, no worries, as long as it is to our competitors)

I could post a letter from here (country VIC to Perth and it would arrive in three days----Melbourne overnight)

Now the AP CEO gets a golden piss-off present and we get a third world postal standard

Everyone in Australia could get a land line telephone connection for $156. regardless where you lived. Today Telstra slash jobs and screw users.

Food on the table was grown here--remember what apples tasted like anyone?

I better stop now, but something has gone very horribly wrong----God help Australia, no, make that God help the world!

Oh, and by the way, if any our our current gutless politicians are members here, PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

Oh yeah ! It use to be a great place!
But not now, its way to hard.
Australia has become the land of the haves and have nots.
Imagine what it must be like for a young couple say 25 just starting out to have a family, ,good luck!
Very hard for them .
Im always looking for somewhere else to live these days, I have lived in Asia at times and the uk, but feel there still are good old fashion places in oz still that would suit my way of life , but not in the big cities , no one can afford it ,unless their already set up or working day and night .

Pete, a bit off topic but just wondering what you were doing in Asia, are you a vet?

Hi mate, hmm when I was 21 I left oz to travel the world ! The dreams of 21year old with no responsibility,
I went hitch hiking for 3 years and I went to about 18 countries in 3 years. But I aways loved Asia ,i like their ways of life.
About 5 years ago while in Glebe I met my second wife to be , she is Asian and she is an electrical engineer.
So we go there when we can and I use to have an apartment there.
I have not been in the service, I have mates that are ex vets though .Im 49 now .
But reading the news lately it looks like its on again with fat boy Kim in Korea and our charming leader has said yes to the yanks , so its not looking to good.

Thank you for your quick response Pete, and please forgive my blunt questioning.

Years ago, when I was a kid, my neighbour went off to Vietnam. he was never the same when he returned. I presumed, wrongly, you may have somehow met him if you were a vet.

Cheers for now,

Best wishes,

G.

P.S. Regarding the Yanks: They did save our arse WW2, we could not have done it without out them. And, back to my neighbour, he was a native Australian, and when he returned from service he had the utmost praise for his American friends that he made during his time there.

Yeah, I'm not anti American.
Just dont want to see a war.
But fat Kim is a nutter.
Your friend who served in Vietnam was never the same you say?
Thats normal, how could anybody be the same after going through that. I have a friend who is a twin , both twins went to Vietnam and only one twin came back.
He never stopped drinking since.
My dad was a aircraft engineer and when he was young he was in WW2 in New Guinea and when he came back the nightmares started.
I think they all suffered going through the things they did.

Pete

Vietnam messed up a lot of blokes, mate.

I just hope the current kerfuffle by our politicians regarding our vets gets sorted quick smart.

Our vets deserve better.

I bought a book about radio parts printed in 1933 from eBay in May of this year. I ended up getting a refund after it hadn't turned up after 6 weeks and it only came from Melbourne. Well guess what ? This week it arrived. It only took 5 months lol.

It would be very interesting indeed to know where that book has been in the interim.

I haven't had too may eBay items from the USA go MIA, but when they do I sometimes think they go to Austria.

I have been told that the reason that a good number of sellers will not ship to Italy is that their mail system is rife with thieves.